Dr. Elyse Morgan’s mission: find the cure to the HTN4 virus. The compensation, courtesy of the United Nations: a lab stocked with hi-tech goodies, limitless resources and enough chocolate to make her rear look like a cellulite farm. Bonus: she gets to live.

Rescued (kidnapped) and secreted (imprisoned) on an undersea warship, Elyse adjusts to her assumed identity as a cadet with the finesse of a toeless ballerina. Her sulfuric temper and blatant insubordination capture the unwanted attention of the ship’s captain, the gorgeous, infuriating, engaged Nicoli Marek.

Elyse would rather perform her own autopsy than become the other woman, but Nicoli—who’s as full of himself as he is of secrets—regards his impending marriage as a mere political transaction. And Elyse as fair game.

As Elyse’s suspicions about the UN’s true agenda mount along with her attraction to the relentless, chronically shirtless captain, she must choose between the murky path to everything she’s ever wanted, or the squeaky-clean path of self-sacrifice—which could mean taking the secrets of the virus with her to the grave.

Warning: Features a strong, chocolate-loving heroine who takes no prisoners on the way to saving the world from an epidemic and winning a captain’s heart.

My Review:

What a refreshing surprise!

Chapter 1 starts with a big bang. Dr. Elyse Morgan is stitching up a nicked artery on a gorgeous soldier. She is witty, intelligent and keeps to her high code of ethics, rebuffing the advances of the gorgeous blue-eyed soldier. (This is not a spoiler... this is page 1!)

The title of the book is so perfect. This story is based on Elyse's sense of Right and Wrong... and how she excuses the gray areas she finds herself in as Acceptable or Unacceptable Degrees of Wrong. I could not help loving her wild attempts to do the right thing as situations just get stickier and romantically hotter.

Elyse is wonderful. If I could look her up and invite her over for tea, I totally would. She's such a complete, complicated, flawed, well-meaning character. I think I'd have to kidnap her, stuffing her in a windowless van to do it, but bribing with chocolate does seem to have some effect.

Seen through her eyes, 2053 AD is easy to swallow in all it's sci-fi glory. She is researching an antidote for the virus that killed her parents. Since she is not following any political drama, herself, it is fun to discover the world through her eyes. The most fascinating aspect is how the oceans are being explored and guarded by the United Nations. I loved traveling on the pods to get to this huge underwater military ship. I fit seamlessly in (or rather, NOT) right along with Elyse.

I thoroughly enjoyed the supporting cast - Nicoli is HOT, smart, complicated... amazing. He's such a great leader, I was in awe with all the crew!! Lt Horan is so startling in his military aggressiveness. I just wanna strangle him until pg 127, which I quote below. Lol. Elyse's friend - the friend of her mother - wow. Such a great support. Honestly, I don't know how Elyse could've survived the sub without her... and yet, she's so full of surprises, too!!

Obviously from the premise, there is a very steamy romance going on here and it only grows in intensity as Elyse back-peddles as fast as she can. Exhilarating!! No worries about live triangles here. Oh, no. The chemistry is absolutely perfect.

The writing is too, too fun. I had a difficult time not highlighting every other sentence
on my Nook. Here’s some of my favorites:

“He seems happy enough with you now,” Ebony teased. Under
the table, I tried to reach her with my foot. Success.“Ouch!” Stanley grunted. “What’d you do that for?” But he
grinned.“Sorry.” I offered a sheepish smile. Ebony laughed, knowing
she was my intended target. I refrained – with great effort – from looking
under the table. I would sit closer to her tomorrow. - Pg 68

"I-I-" Must be dreaming. Must not have even woke up this morning. Pg. 127

Someday, somewhere across the world, some anonymous woman had damn well better appreciate the great lengths I took to resist the advances of her irresistible fiance. And the way I would suffer on her behalf when I had to leave him behind. - Pg 208

The two most attractive men on the planet were teaming up against me. I wasn't sure if I was going to be a happy drunk or a mean one, but I took another sip before I answered."I don't know who you think you're talking to in the tone, Ryon ****," I snapped. "But unless you can provide me with some new, alternative definition for hte word doctor, I would think it would be perfectly clear why I headed twoard the gunfire. I would think that you, of all people, would be grateful for it."A mean one, then. I took another sip. - Pg 257

Premise commentary: I know Of Poseidon is light and fun and full of humor. K? And this premise hints at similarities from the same author. So this is important - there is delicious wit through-out the writing, but none of the lightness from her YA series and only a little slapstick fun. If you loved Of Poseidon, you're going to fall off your chair like I did over Degrees of Wrong. If you aren't into humor, dive into this one, anyway. Despite all the chocolate references. Lol. The romance and the world building and the character development are DELICIOUS!!

Cover commentary: I love this cover, absolutely, but I have no idea how it relates to the story. Lol. Yea, there's a sub in the water, but the ship in the picture doesn't look like the huge hulking thing in my head. (Maybe I'm way off?!) And the girl in the water is gorgeous, but Elyse can't swim, so this would be dangerous if it were her. Lol.

My rating: 4.5 - I seriously love this book. I can't wait to read everything by this author. (Don't let it go to your head, Anna!!)

About the Author:

Anna's first published work was a letter to the editor of her local newspaper complaining about stingy tippers-she was a 17 year old waitress. The letter got her a free dinner at the restaurant where she worked, and dirty looks from all the stingy tippers. Now that her mother has passed away, Anna feels it's safe to reveal that she also wrote other students' term papers for prom money in high school. Her favorite pastimes include reading, writing, drinking wine, and reading and writing while drinking wine. She can shoot a sling shot, speak with a southern accent, and take a nap in the middle of the day, any day of the week-at a moment's notice, no less. She cannot rollerblade, apply liquid eyeliner, or find her keys. Ever.

Anna lives in Florida with her husband, daughter, and the fictional characters in her head. Feel free to drop her a line at byannascarlett@gmail.com, or chat her up on Twitter: @byannascarlett.

You can also get chummy with her on Goodreads. She loves fan mail and gift certificates to Panera Bread.

Catch the Tour hosted by Lynn Marie @ Bringing on the Epic and all the great posts and giveaways and reviews and interviews!!

Giveaway:

This giveaway is connected with the tour and exclusive to Colorimetry. It is open internationally for anyone over 13 who can download the winning e-book. I'm pretty sure I'm also choosing a winner for some ohmysweetgoodness swag and chocolate, too. Best thing is just to enter and see what happens. You can find my real rules under About Me.

13 comments:

This is seriously one of my favorite books of the entire year. I loved it! Elyse was amazing, Nicoli was absolutely a smodering god of perfection, and I loved the humor from Lt. Horan (when I got to THAT part). I can't think of a single thing that I didn't love about this book.

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Following the FTC regulations that govern reviewers I must state that people give me free books and products in exchange for my review of those products. I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews and my reviews are my honest, personal opinion, negative or positive. In no way are my reviews swayed by compensation.